Blog News Watch

Flock 1.0 has been released at last. I blogged a review of the browser’s 0.9 version yesterday, and it turns out 1.0 was already out in the open - so unfortunately, I’ve begun this review of an otherwise excellent browser on a negative point: the automatic check for updates is not as effective as it should be.

In the process of using Flock in the last few days I’ve exited the software and re-opened it many times and not once did it let me know 1.0 was available. I checked my update settings, and they’re all on. It was only when I downloaded and installed Flock on another computer this morning that I noticed some changes!

Update: Evan Hamilton, Flock’s community rep, has informed me that the auto-update roll-out of Flock 1.0 has been deliberately delayed for a couple of weeks, so they can roll out in stages. Good strategy on Flock’s part.

The People Sidebar: True Social Network Integration

Regardless, 1.0 is a great experience. In my review of 0.9, I mentioned that Flock did not come with any integration of true social networks; it focused on blogging sites, photo sites and the like. Well, scrap all that - the social internet browser is now officially social!

As of this revision, Flock integrates Facebook and Twitter quite nicely, under the new “People” sidebar, where the RSS feed reader, account listings, and handy Web Clipboard reside. Twitter and Facebook are joined in the People sidebar by YouTube and Flickr, which have been integrated with Flock for some time but until now did not take advantage of the friends capabilities of these sites.

Facebook works great. You’re one click away from changing your status no matter where you are on the web, and it notifies you of new messages and requests. There are also quick access buttons that allow you to share the currently open web page with your friends and upload media. Media can be uploaded using Flock’s in-built media upload tool. Your friends’ status and avatars are shown in a list below the controls for your own profile.

There’s also a “My Media” button there, and clicking it opens the Media Browser. You can see my massive collection of one photo on Facebook in the Media Browser screenshot.

Twitter integration also works well. You can tweet from the sidebar and the last tweet from other users who you’re following shows up below your own controls. If you don’t have too many friends on Twitter, though, a lot of space is wasted here; maybe in the future Flock will be able to tell if there’s any wasted space and if so, fill it in with previous tweets from the same friends.

My World

Flock’s “My World” concept is fantastic. It shows a list of your favorite sites - most recently viewed favorites from del.icio.us and Magnolia - as well as the latest headlines in your RSS feeds and recent media in libraries you’re subscribed to on Flickr, Photobucket and YouTube. It includes easy access to search and all the social features of Flock; if you want to blog a photo or link you see on your My World page, you’re already a click away.

I know that doesn’t change anything in a browser where those features are pervasive, but it’s nice to see them there. News bloggers in particular will find it a useful hub to peruse the day’s relevant news items, find media and blog about them.

Default Search Engine - Yahoo! v. Google

Flock is automatically set to use Yahoo! search services, which is probably a matter of personal taste for the developers. I think that it’s well known that Google provides much more effective search solutions, but their popularity in the search department is beginning a decline - especially with the bloggers, and especially after they began penalizing those who wanted to make some honest money through paid text links. I wouldn’t have used Yahoo! but no matter; you can change the default search engine to whatever you want in Preferences.

Blog Poster

The Blog Post feature works really well. Bloggers with a discipline problem who don’t post as often as they should may find using Flock remedies this to some extent (though nothing beats self-motivation and discipline!). It lacks text alignment controls, but all you need to know is a little HTML and flick the Source button to remedy this.

It’s a matter of drag n’ drop to add images to your post, but Flock gives you no choice but to upload images to Flickr, Photobucket or Piczo. To become a popular choice amongst more bloggers it NEEDS to be able to upload images to your blog server, much like ecto does. And if ecto can do it, I’m sure it’s not hard to implement.

The Crash

As you can see, there are a few screenshots in this article. When I dragged the My World screenshot to the blog post window, it caused the whole post window to freeze up; nothing worked. The rest of the Flock browser continued to be operational. I poked around for a bit trying to find a way to unfreeze it, until giving up hoping beyond hope there was some kind of auto-save function.

When I logged in again, there was no indication that the post was recovered until I opened the Write Post function again. A dialog box then opened informing it had recovered the post and I wiped the sweat off of my forehead. Phew. The only change I’d make to this life-saving feature is to have it let you know on software start-up to save extraneous panicking!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Flock didn’t really have any of the ugly, but here’s a recap:

The Good

• Great new social network integration with Facebook and Twitter
• My World - all your online activity, encapsulated at a glance
• Easy to use blog poster with drag n’ drop media
• Easy bookmarking of favorite sites

The Bad

• Facebook integration should depend less on simply opening new tabs within the Facebook site
• Twitter integration doesn’t utilize space effectively
• The choice of default search engine isn’t the best choice, in my own opinion
• Blog Poster absolutely must have the ability to upload files straight to your blog

The Bottom Line

Flock is an excellent browser for the Web 2.0 social-savvy user and for the casual blogger, and, to an extent, the problogger. Once Flock can handle uploading images straight to your blog, it’ll be a much better experience.

If you’re a blogger I suggest you head on over to Flock.com right now and download this browser; it’ll make your life easier, and your blog readers will be happier when their favorite blog receives a sudden and strange upgrade in posting frequency.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: flock, social networking, web browsers